benton



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

I J. B. BENTON. Operating Connections for Fare-Registers.

Patented May 4, I880.

l M a n m G r m u s 6 A w m a n m P ...I M 0 m I t m. J- w o m S H P m z T 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. B. BENTON. Operating Connections for Pare-Registers.

. No. 227,207". Patented May 4,1880.

I Fig. 4.

WITNESSES Y 11v V'EJVTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. BENTON, OF NEW'YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAILWAY REGISTER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BUFFALO, N. Y.

OPERATING CONNECTION FOR FARE-REGISTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,207, dated May 4, 1880.

Application filed February 26, 1880. I

To all whom it may concern fare-box, is nearly all that he can properly at- Be it known that I, JOHN B. BENTON, of tend to. the city, county, and State of New York,have The object of my present invention is to invented certain new and useful Improvements avoid as far as possible all objections to the in Operating Connections for FareRegisters, use of a register upon double-ender horse-cars of which the following is a specification. which employ afare-boxin lieu of a conductor,

In Letters Patent No. 167,057, granted to and to enable the driver to register the fares Inc August 24, 1875, I have shown and deas they are deposited in the box by a connecscribed a fare-register fixed or secured at one tion which does not require a detachable im- IO end of a car with an operating connection to plement, and which does not permit accidental 6o actuate it in the process of counting, tallying, or malicious tampering with or operation of or registering the fares received or collected the register by the passengers either in the by the conductor, consisting of a rod extendcar or while standing upon the rear platform ing from end to end of said car, to which rod thereof.

15 fixed handles are secured or a detachable im- My invention consists of certain new com plement applied to enable the conductor to binations and organizations of devieespointed turn the rod and actuate the register. out at the close of this specification.

Mypresentinvention constitutesan improve- The accompanying drawings represent my ment upon the actuating connection shown in invention as embodied in the best way now 20 said patent, my said improved connection beknown to me. My said invention, however, mg designed for use more particularly on maybe embodied and organizedin ways other streetcars of the class known as doublethan as represented in said drawings without ender horse-cars, upon which the services of departing from its spirit. a driver only are required, a locked box or Figure 1 represents a longitudinal central 25 receptacle being employed in which the fares section through so much of a double-ender are deposited by the passengers, instead of the horse ear having my improvements applied fares being collected by a conductor moving thereto as is necessary to illustrate the subthrough the car. ject-matter claimed. Fig. 2 is a horizontal see- I have found that objections exist to the use tion therethrough on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. 0 of a simple rod-connection with fixed handles Fig. 3 is a transverse section therethrough on at each end for double-ender cars which have the line 3 3 of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an end a driver only, as also to the use of an actuatview of a portion of one end of the car, and mg connection for such cars where it is neces- Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through aporsary to use a detachable implement to move tion of the-operating connections detached. 5 the connection. Only so much of the car is shown in the 8 A fixed handle would be liable to be tamdrawings as I deem it necessary to describe-to pered with, and might be accidentally or mawit, the floor or bottom A, the platforms a a, liciously used to operate the register by a perone at each end of the car, the ends or front SOD: standing on the rear platform of the car, and rear partitions, A A and the top or roof 0 while if the handle were made detachable, so A the sides of the car being omitted. as to be removed by the driver after each actu- The fare-box or locked receptacle in which atlon of the register, then the liability would the fares are deposited by the passengers is occur of the implement getting inislaid or lost. not shown, as it is not necessary to an under- A greater objection still to the detachable imstanding of my invention. Said fare-box may 5 plement is that the driver would be compelled be similar to those in common use, and may be 5 to apply the detachable instrument to the consecured in place in the car in well-known ways. nectlon in order to record each fare, thereby Running through the car from end to end, in taking his attention from his team, which this example, and mounted in suitable bearteam,1n connection with the necessity of lookings at one side thereof, and out of the way of v 50 mg after and keeping a surveillance over the the passengers, whether standing or seated, is

a rod-connection, the opposite ends of which havejointed to them a handle or arm at a point within easy reach of the driver whilein his driving position upon the platform of the ear. The said rod-connection is divided transversely at or near one end thereof, or is madein sections B B, the adjacent ends of said sections B B being provided, respectively, with a fixed crank or arm, I) b. The crank b of the section B of the rod'connection and the crank I) of the section B thereof interlock with each other, as clearly shown in the sectional view, Fig. 5, whereby, while capable of limited turning movements, independently of each other, the said sections B and B, with their respective cranks, are locked together as against independent endwise movement.

Connected with the registeringmachine D, which is secured at the end of the car next the cranks of the rod-connection, is, in this example, a lever, E. and said lever, when vibrated, is capable of imparting a movement to the counting or tallying parts of said register, each vibration moving the index or register wheel forward one point, or to the extent of one indication in the process of registering the fares deposited in the fare-box, an alarm being sounded simultaneously with each registration made, to indicate that the fare has been properly registered. This register may be similar to those in common use, whether of the duplex character, which embody what is known as a general and a trip register, or of the sin gle-register type.

I prefer such a register as is shown in Letters Patent No. 167,057, heretofore granted to me under date of August 24, 1875, which is of the well-known monitor register type of machines.

The outer or free end of the actuating-lever E of the register is provided with a slot or opening, 6, for the reception of the crank-pins c c at the outer ends of the cranks b b, one at a time, the organization of said cranks and their rods B B, with the lever E, being such that but one of said crank-pins can lie in the slot or opening of the lever E or be connected therewith at the same time, so that when connected with one of said cranks the lever E can be vibrated and the register actuated by that crank only and its actuating rod and handle, the rod-connection being allowed endwise play to a limited extent, so that either one or the other of its cranks can be connected with the lever E, as desired.

The endwise movement of the rod-connection is limited, in this instance, by the handles 0 O, which respectively abut against the bearings ff of the connection at the ends of the car when the opposite handle is drawn out to its operating position.

In order to preventaccidental endwise movement of the rod-connection which might result from the vibrations or motions of the car, I pivot, preferably, to the bearingf at the end of the car mearest the register D and cranks of the rod-connection, one inside and one outside said end or partition, suitable dogs or dc vices GG, the curved end g of the dog Gr falling in between the shoulder formed by the handle 0 mounted upon the rod B and the outside of the bearingf when the handle O is in its operative position, while the curved end g of the dog G is capable of falling in between the shoulder formed by the crank b and the inside of the beariugf when the handle U is in an operative position.

In order to render the handle opposite to the one which is in its operative position incapable of turning its rod and crank, I provide the end bearings,ff, of the rod-col'inection each with two projecting studs or pins, h h, one of which, h, is preferably shorter than the other, between which pins the jointed handle or a portion of the rod opposite the operatinghandle fits, and is thereby prevented from turning, until drawn or forced out beyond the end of the shorter pin, when the handle can be turned, the opposite handle being then carried between the studs or pins projecting from the bearing at that end of the car, and thus, in its turn, locked from operation.

The operation of the connection is as follows: Supposing the parts to be in the position depicted in Figs. 1 and 2, the drivers position will be on the platform a. The handle 0 will be locked from turning by its retaining-pins, and consequently be incapable of being worked to rock the rod B andits crank I), which is out of connection with the register, while the handle G will be in its operative position and capable of being rocked past the shorter pin h to turn the rod B and its crank I), which is in connection with the actuating-lever E of the register. The dog G will also lie in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and will prevent endwise movement of the rod-connection until it (the dog) is raised or withdrawn from between the bearing and the shoulder formed by the handle 0. hen the car arrives at the end of the route the team and driver are shifted to the opposite end of the car, and the handle of the operating connection at that end of said car is then placed in its operative position, which is accomplished by raising the dog G and forcing the rod endwise, thereby carrying the handle 0 between its locking-pins h h and its crank b, out of connection with the actuating-lever E, while the handle 0 will be carried out beyond its shorter locking-pin hand its crank 1) connected with the actuating-lever, the lOtl-COllnection being then locked in its new position against endwise movement by the dog G-,whieh falls in between the shoulder formed by the crank b and the inside of the bearingf, the curved end of said dog G fitting the curved surface of the rod B snugly.

I do not limit myself to the particularinstrumentalities shown in the drawings for carrying out my present invention. I may substitute devices different from the retaining pins or lugs to lock one handle while the other is released. I may employ other devices than the pivoted dogs G G to prevent endwise movement of the connections. I may employ handles other than jointed handles for working my connection, although such is deemed preferable where rod-connections are used, for the reason that by jointing the handles I am enabled to prevent the rod from being strained, which objection cannot Well be avoided where fixed handles are employed, as I have ascertained; and I may make other changes in the connections,within certain limits, without departure from the spirit of my invention.

The object of making one of the aforesaid locking-pins shorter than the other is to prevent movement of the actuating-handle in the wrong direction, the longer pin or projection constituting a positive stop to the movement of the handle past it, while said handle, when drawn out, is free to be turned or rocked past the shorter pin. At each actuation of the handle it may be returned to its normal position in readiness for 'anew actuation of the register, automatically, by a spring inclosed within the registercasing and acting on the actuating-lever E in well-known ways; or the handle may be moved in the direction to operate the register and returned to its normal position by hand alone, as desired.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a fare-register, a connection for operating said register, having a handle or actuating portion at or near each end of the car, and mechanism for connecting one of the actuating-handles with the register while disconnecting the other.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a register and the rodconnection extending from end to end of the car, having at or near each end an actuating handle to work the register, only one of which handles at a time is in actuating connection with said register.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the register, the actuating sectional or divided rod-connection thereof, the handles at or near each end of said connection, the cranks or arms of said connections, and the actuating-lever of the register, whereby one only of said cranks is in actuating connection with said lever at a time, and the connection of one disconnects the other.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the register-actuating rodconnection extending through the car, with handles jointed to said connection to move it in working the register.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the register, the sectional operating rod-connection of said register, the bearings of said connection, the handles of said connection, one at each end of the car, and the devices which look one section of said rod-connection from being turned by its handle while the other section is free to be rockedto operate the register.

6. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the register, the endwisemovable operating rod-connection, and the devices to lock said connection against endwise movement when in its operative condition.

7 The combination, substantially as hereinbet'ore set forth, of the register with the sectional rodconnection, one section of which may be turned relative to the other to actuate the register while the sections are locked together as against independent endwise movement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

. JOHN B. BENTON.

Witnesses WM. S. BEAMAN, ANTHONY GREF, Jr. 

